FINISHED! schrodinger555's MK1 Arc Reactor Chest RT

[schrodinger555]

Hey all, so I've been interested in this prop since I first saw Iron Man, though
I missed out on the auction and couldn't get my own pictures of the prop because
of that.

When I got into high school I started an engineering course that is supposed
to be a four year course, though due to the lack of interest (I was the first of
over 200 people to even ask about it) the fourth year course never ran.
The first year is a computer modeling and 3D design course. The second year
is introduction to electronics like 555 timers and LEDs and all that. The third
year is more formal engineering principles and levels, mechanical advantage
and so forth and so on. The last year was called computer aided
manufacturing, and would have been right up my alley, but alas.

Anyway, in that third year course I began to goof off and work on my own
projects, mainly the design of the Arc Reactor. Using Jason Ehl's wonderful
files I began to model the arc and then changed and removed pieces or
added them to make it more accurate.

I'll be adding renders as I went along.

the Arc is the accurate width of 3 inches and about 2.75 inches deep.

I will be hopefully making two versions, one will be the 'auction version' and
the other will be a flat version you can wear.

Without further ado, here are some pictures:
(They should be clickable, if not someone let me know please)


View attachment 155015
This is an early render of the clear ring with the Transformers
around it. Since then I have changed the transformers to
make them more screen accurate.


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This was the preliminary back cage, almost exactly the same
as the one provided by Jason Ehl in his plans. Since then I have
made it more accurate.


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These are some front shots showing the details of the different pieces.
I know the center triple armed ring is too thick, I have since fixed that.
View attachment 155021
I quite like this shot as you can see some of
the depth of the Arc.



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These shots help show the 'cage' Heatsink



Next up is the Arc that a friend of mine and I built last year.
This took about a month total and was actually built by me
to fit in his car in the center console. It was a pretty hectic build
but most of the parts are sourced except for the ring, which we
cast and then turned on a lathe

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Last up is my recent work on the Arc. Last part I swear!


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This is the resin ring I am using now,
I have about 4 or 5 others that aren't
quite right though.

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These two shots are of the prototype heatsink.
It is just cardboard glued together.

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This shot shows the three sections:
heatsink, light unit, and ring.

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View attachment 155028
this is when the cage was in progress, so you see a lot
more of the lighting unit

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The inner details right now are kind of BSed at the moment.
My school got a 3D printer which I will be using to create
the correct pieces soon, but these are decent approximations
for now.

View attachment 155033

This last Arc is very much a work in progress, and will
eventually be 100% completed, and hopefully somewhere
near that amount of screen accurate.

So! if you read this far thank you!
Any feedback or advice or anything is very much appreciated.

Thanks for looking!

-Mili

 

[Sym-Cha]

Re: schrodinger555's MK1 Arc Reactor Chest RT

Hi there Mili,

That looks absolutely fabulous ... I have no clue whatsoever what a mk1-arc-reactor is or does . . . however that is a stunning prop you're recreating.

-Chaim

 

[Kevin Gossett]

Re: schrodinger555's MK1 Arc Reactor Chest RT

This looks great! Can't wait to see a finished product, along with more of the build :thumbsup

 

[schrodinger555]

Re: schrodinger555's MK1 Arc Reactor Chest RT

Thanks guys! Chaim, it's from the movie Iron Man, from 2008. I recommend checking it out! its a cool movie Thanks Kevin! I'm hoping once the thing version is finished I can begin the arm.

 

[schrodinger555]

Re: schrodinger555's MK1 Arc Reactor Chest RT

So this is a fairly big update. (and very pic heavy)

I have been working with an RPF member and gotten my models made into 3D printed pieces. There was a bit of clean up, but most of the work went into painting and wrapping and soldering and all that good stuff, so without further ado I shall post some pictures.


First some progress shots.



The raw prints as they arrived


Test fitted together, everything is looking good so far


The cleaned up center ring with the other raw print, pretty big difference


The center ring with a prototype clear ring/transformer set up


Work surface, not the cleanest


Each transformer was sanded painted then wrapped entirely, and then glued.


Another shot, you can see the cleaned up parts at the bottom


First three transformers are cut and glued onto the clear ring
(Big thanks to jason_ehl because it's his files I used to line up
pieces and make sure everything fit nicely together on the clear ring)


The back side of a transformer


All transformers wrapped and glued on, took tons of time


The small loop of red wire on the back of the center ring


So at this point we can skip a few hours ahead and I have made the small wire connections between the transformers and added some other details:



Then we can skip further still and we get to where we now stand.


This picture is showing the aluminum ring and the wire piece at the base of the RT.
The rings are TINY and the wire pieces are pretty simple. As I go forward I'll decide which if any of them I want to use.


These next pictures are just some kind of 'Hero' shots of the piece. It's a really beautiful piece to look at and it lights very well.


















My RT is based off of the 'Auction Version' as you may have been able to tell, and it's pretty darn close.
Aside from the difference in materials which contributed to slight differences in thickness for some pieces, it's pretty close and accurate.
I hope you enjoyed seeing what I have so far, and more is still to come, mainly in terms of a fixed up back cage/heatsink.











-Mili

 

[schrodinger555]

Re: schrodinger555's MK1 Arc Reactor Chest RT

Minor update:

I have done the wrapping and cutting of some new transformers and have started the wearable version of my RT as well as a new light ring for display RT #2.

Enclosed are some pictures.


This first one shows the new transformer painted and wired up and glued as well as some short ones for the wearable version.


A quick thrown together shot of the wearable and display RTs


Different angle, here you can see I will be using a flat version of the brass ring assembly for the wearable version


Here you can see the display ring and the thin wearable version ring


The last shot here is just a 'family' shot showing some more of what I have so far

Thanks for looking!

-Mili

 

[schrodinger555]

Re: schrodinger555's MK1 Arc Reactor Chest RT

Another quick small update:

I finished the roll of wire I had.


Seems there's enough wire in each roll for 3 and a half sets of transformers, almost 4

 

[Kevin Gossett]

Re: schrodinger555's MK1 Arc Reactor Chest RT

Coming along very well!

 

[Quakedude]

Re: schrodinger555's MK1 Arc Reactor Chest RT

Fantastic work!!! This has motivated me to get moving on mine. I'll be following your progress with great interest :thumbsup

 

[gyoung2993]

Re: schrodinger555's MK1 Arc Reactor Chest RT

I am so curious is to how you made those glass rings ??? I need to make one but not sure how its done...... love your arc reactor build , I am still getting parts together for mine , but need an accurate ring, and then I can start,hopefully...

 

[Kevin Gossett]

Re: schrodinger555's MK1 Arc Reactor Chest RT

Either laser cut acrylic or cast in clear resin :thumbsup

 

[gyoung2993]

Re: schrodinger555's MK1 Arc Reactor Chest RT

Either laser cut acrylic or cast in clear resin :thumbsup

Yeah laser cut , I understand , however , people I contact cant get it cut 1/2 inch tall, they say they have to cut 2, 2/4 inch pieces to get it 1/2 inch which means they have to glue it,,,, sooo I wonder how would you make one and make it look like glass ??? I just don't have any experience in either one of those fields to make something like that , to come out perfect and glassy....that's my dillema

 

[Quakedude]

Re: schrodinger555's MK1 Arc Reactor Chest RT

So just to clarify - what are the actual dimensions of the clear ring? 3 inch by 1/2 inch? I'm going to start ringing around (no pun intended) a few laser cutting places today.

 

[schrodinger555]

Re: schrodinger555's MK1 Arc Reactor Chest RT

So the way I made my rings is similar to the way I suspect the movie guys made it.

I used clear polyester resin with dye. I first made a mold using two different sized PVC pipes and some aluminum and hot glue, and then poured in the resin after I had mixed the color I wanted and made sure the catalyst I used corresponded with the amount of stuff I was pouring.

The next step once it is all cured and finished is to chuck it on a lathe gently and turn it to the right size, then while it is still chucked add the small groove in the middle of the front face.


While on the lathe I polish slightly and check for any imperfections then remove and add the transformers. The plans I drew up had the ring coming in at 2.25 inches ID and 2.75 OD, but my finished ring came out closer to 2.29/2.3 ID and 2.78/2.79 OD.

The important part is scaling to the INNER DETAILS. Often these will be a lot harder to make then the rest will be (outer clear ring) so you can deal with a slight mismatch in clear ring diameters.

that being said, even with my clear ring being slightly larger than I anticipated, my finished arcs OVERALL diameter, including transformers added onto the ring is 2.98 inches, which very nicely fits into a 3 inch ID holder.

In closing I guess the most important thing is to check the sizes as you are machining and really account for all of the thicknesses you can. I ended up being a few hundredths away from my plans which is pretty good, but you need to plan it all out and realize that there is always room for unforeseen hiccups and need for some redo's! just today I realized one of my rings that I was suuuuper happy with is just too small, no way around it so I need to match the color and remake it


If you guys have any more questions let me know! I'm super pumped some more people have been seeing my work and seem to like it

-Mili

Edit: I realized I forgot to include the height of the ring, it is .45 inches on my ring, which fits my transformers perfectly. Hope this helps!

 

[schrodinger555]

Re: schrodinger555's MK1 Arc Reactor Chest RT

So like I mentioned in the above post one of my rings is colored nicely, but alas is the wrong size, so I had to pour more resin and color match it to make a new set.

I figured it might be a good time to document my simple process and post it to help out anyone who might be interested!


So starting out here left to right you see the clear resin I am using, I got it at Michael's as well as the dye that is in the three bottles and the catalyst.

Next is the mixing container and my two molds as well as the under sized ring I am trying to match.


This is from a spool of wire that I bought for chainmail, it has a wonderful casing and is super useful for these rings as it is deep and about the right size in terms of OD and ID. It is slightly larger and smaller than those respectively which makes for an easy time machining.


I measured the amount of resin that would fit in the wire mold and it turned out to be something like two ounces. The resin said to add 6 drops per layer that was .5 inches thick which would be good for a single ring, but seeing as you can fill it up higher than that I recommend using the 4 drops per ounce, or 8 total.


Start mixing the colors, blue and yellow. I use a lot more blue than I do yellow as it gives a darker green at the end. Be careful not to over saturate color and mix slowly and thoroughly. You don't want streaks of color left in the finished ring. It bothers the hell out of you when you see it, trust me


Once you have a color you like, like above, you're basically done. I add the catalyst at this point, but I don't think it really matters in the long run when you do it.


Pour carefully into the mold and see if the colors match well, if you really felt the need I suppose you could pour it back into the container and add coloring to fix it if it comes out wrong, but honestly I think that will just cause you more trouble in the end.


I used the clear part that holds the wire as a mold and also the yellow holder for a smaller ring. I am not sure if it will be useful but I figured, hell why not?



Do all of this in a well ventilated area and remember, this stuff likes curing outside in the sun if you can have it do so, so plan accordingly.

After the ring is cured and removed you can chuck it on a lathe and get to work making it nice and pretty looking.

I do this on a sheet of foam and put some lined paper on it so I can see what the color looks like on a white background, it helps me better match the color, and this is also a good way to have a disposable work surface. If resin gets on some paper it isn't the end of the world


I hope this helps someone!

If you guys have any questions or suggestions or anything just let me know!

-Mili

 

[gyoung2993]

Re: schrodinger555's MK1 Arc Reactor Chest RT

I appreciate the insight with making it , the issue I have is I don't have a mold to make it from or a machine shop to clean and polish something like that either, my arc reactor is made from machined aluminum , however it was designed to be for display purposes only , which means , it is a lot bigger than the average arc reactor.....the glass ring itself is over 3 inches round....its not small....well I might find someone to do something that big one day....still have a couple of projects ahead of that one anyway.....Guy

 

[schrodinger555]

Re: schrodinger555's MK1 Arc Reactor Chest RT

Do you have any pictures you can share? I'd be interested to see what you have so far

 

[gyoung2993]

Re: schrodinger555's MK1 Arc Reactor Chest RT

didn't want to throw stuff into your thread, don't wont to disrespect your build process to show others...I can if you wish, I wasn't going to start a build thread of my own , until I got all the pieces I needed made.....I just don't have great knowledge when it comes to making a glass ring, plus I am working on a few props of my own at the moment ...when I can get time...lol

 

[schrodinger555]

Re: schrodinger555's MK1 Arc Reactor Chest RT

I totally understand, thanks for thinking of that!

This is the only prop I've allowed myself to get involved with for the time being but I totally get having other prop priorities first.

When you get some more time to work on it you should either make a thread for it or post it on here

-Mili

 

[gyoung2993]

Re: schrodinger555's MK1 Arc Reactor Chest RT

Can do ... I can take a couple of pictures this weekend of all the parts I have made at the moment ....a couple small parts were made by hand and dremel , ( not fun at all )....lol....but its taken along time to get these, and keep in mind , its bigger than it needs to be...... but I wanted it in the cabinet for display.....I will get you a sneek peek late Saturday afternoon..and in 2 or 3 months I will get a build thread started ......I love your build by the way, congrats on a challenging project such as these are....Guy